Week 6 NFL underdog report: Giants, Jets looking to top Bengals, Bills

Veteran wide receiver Darius Slayton had eight catches for a season-high 122 yards against Seattle while rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. turned a team-high 18 carries into a league-leading 129 yards in Week 5.

Tracy’s performance bodes well for the Giants as they prepare to face a Bengals team that has allowed the third-most yards on the ground (151.4) this season. With an average of 28 points per game, Cincinnati may have the league’s third-best scoring offense but they’ve given up 29 points per game, second-most in the NFL. 

Of course, to beat Cincinnati the Giants will have to stop the league’s sixth-leading passer, Joe Burrow. The Bengals quarterback has 1,370 yards and 12 touchdowns this year but he’s also taken 11 sacks, one less than Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.

Defensively, New York leads the NFL with 22 sacks thanks in large part to defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. In five games, Lawrence has six sacks, 16 tackles, four tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits. Only Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson has more sacks (6.5) this season.

In other words, the Giants have enough talent to get their first home win of the season and crush the Bengals’ playoff hopes by sending them back to Cincinnati with a 1-5 record.

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (+2.5)

After watching Robert Saleh lead New York to a 20-36 record in just over four years with the team, the Jets fired their head coach on Tuesday, with team owner Woody Johnson expects to see immediate improvement. 

“This is one of the most talented teams that has ever been assembled by the New York Jets,” Johnson told reporters. “The change that we made today, that I made, I believe will bring new energy and positivity that will lead to more wins, starting now.”

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will take over as interim head coach but more importantly, quarterbacks coach Todd Downing will assume play-calling duties for offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

Under Hackett, the Jets ran the ball 113 times — seventh-fewest in the league — while averaging an NFL-worst 80.6 rushing yards per game. Unforgivable numbers with talented players like Breece Hall and Braelon Allen in the backfield.

That should change against a Bills team currently allowing the eighth-most yards per game (144.0) on the ground. Buffalo held Houston’s Cam Akers to 42 yards last week but gave up 199 yards to the Ravens’ Derrick Henry in Week 5. The Bills lost both games and could make it three in a row if Ulbrich adapts a run-heavy scheme. 

Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has thrown the fourth-most passes (182) of any quarterback this season but if New York can keep Buffalo QB Josh Allen on the sidelines by running the ball, the Jets could steal a home win on “Monday Night Football.”